07/07/2015

I finally got round to watching Metropolis (1927) after years of meaning to. It's is frankly incredible both visually, technically and in terms of narrative. The original sci-fi blockbuster. In a way it shows how small a distance the genre has traveled, or maybe how far ahead of it's time it was.

I've decided to do a 'Daily Drawing' project a post a stupid cartoon every day. I spend so much time working out complex 3D stuff that I thought it'd be nice to go back to basics and get away from the computer. I like bad puns and find it relaxing to just cross-hatch things so I thought I'd give it a go.
You can see the illustrations on Tumblr and Instagram.

31/10/2014

For the last few of months I've been working with Refik Anadol on an ambitious projection mapping project that premier on Nov 6th at the Walt Disney Concert Hall in Los Angeles. The visuals will accompany and interact with the live performance of Varesé's Ameriques by the Los Angeles symphony orchestra conducted by Esa-Pekka Salonen.

21/10/2014

I recently gave a talk about my film Dysco in Hamburg. Maxon very kindly invited me over and I had a fantastic time. It was great to meet people I'd only spoken to online. And really nice to talk to the developers too and find out a bit more about how things work behind the scenes.

28/05/2014

I'm always playing around in Cinema 4D so I thought I'd upload some of my recent tests. They're not for a particular project, just playing around with stuff after watching tutorials and just messing around on my laptop on the train. Quite a few of the techniques and ideas are taken from the excellent Advanced Production Techniques series which I highly recommend. Some of the setups may look a little complex but they're really not, they're most likely a few simple techniques layered on top of each other. If you don't understand, go watch the tutorials! :)A couple of the setups use the brilliant X-Particles plugin so you'll need to get hold of that but most of the scenes will run fine in C4D Studio. Download the scene files here1. Long HairI simply added some very long hair to a platonic object and let the Wiggle tag move it around. I used low gravity and some turbulence to make it 'floaty'. I used a number of hair shaders to create a more interesting look.

2. TurbulenceI used hair set to Generate geometry to form the 'plants'. They in turn have other hair growing from them. I've the plant geometry to spawn X-Particles plus I've add some standard particles which feed a Cloner with Soft Body planes blowing across, they also have some Aerodynamic forces acting on them via the Soft Body tag. Everything is effected by the Turbulence and Wind forces. It's interesting to note how the Hair shader controls the width of the hairs even if they're generating geometry.

3. Loft TrailI've created a Tracer from each point on the cube and then used a Loft Nurb to create the surface. I used Thinking Particles with a Custom Channel but this can be realised a lot more easily in X-Particles. Personally I'd like to see an easy way to create dynamic spline trails but no-one else seems that enthusiastic about it so I'm just going to have to create it myself, but it may take a while as my progress in Python is slow. The Matrix objects in here could be removed, in fact the whole scene could be simplified, I was just trying to work out a way to automate the scene more. 4. StruttingThis is based on some free BVH mocap data. I converted the joints into geometry (a nice tip by Yader) and extruded them to create something a little sculptural. I also wanted to create a MoExtrude on the figure but that didn't work with the joints in Geometry mode. I exported the sequence as Alembic and then re-imported it, then I could apply the MoExtrude and create some Effector based distortions. 5. L-System GrowThis is a more complex setup based an approach used by Simon Holmedal, again, this is explained in detail in Cinema 4D Production Techniques. It's a very powerful approach which essentially enables you to access any attribute within the Mograph setup rather than just those provided by the Effectors. In this case I'm using an Effector to drive the Growth value of an MoSpline in Turtle mode (an L-System). The Effector is the same shape as the Spotlight so it gives the effect of the light making the splines grow. I've added some X-Particles which spawn when the Light/Effector passes over them. I've also added in some 'fruit' which are cloned onto the L-system. There is a special setting which allows you to define where in the L-system you'd like to place the clone. (The J,K commands in MoSpline and Groups in the Cloner) 6. SwarmThis setup is based onSimon Fiedler's talk from Cinema 4D Advanced Production Techniques. Basically it allowed me to get my head around the applying Vector Maths in Cinema 4D which really isn't as scary as it sounds. The Xpresso may look a bit complex but really it's just lot of simple expressions layered up on each other. The whole setup is Xpresso driven with no particles or Mograph in there. I'm just using the distance node to define if the 'particles' are pushed away or pulled towards the red cube. I then apply this to all the objects via the powerful Hierachy node. I also use the Hierachy node to access the MoExtrude objects via the slightly confusing Start/Iteration paths. I used the noise node linked to the objects index to create a bit of turbulence. I also use a couple of bits of Xpresso I learned from Matthias Zabiegly'sexcellent Xpresso tutorials. I really recommend these if you're trying to get your head around Xpresso. 7. Change Shape FlockI wanted to create some flocking particles that changed their shape when they collided. They also decrease in size every time they collide so they get smaller as the animation runs. For the flocking I linked my hierarchy of primitives to a basic X-Particles setup. I then used the Dynamics Collision node to tell me when the Platonics collided. When they did it adds '1' to Type property of the Platonic making it change shape. Each time a collision occurs a small amount is subtracted from the Primitives diameter. I also used this technique described by Tim Clapham here to generate Thinking Particles when the Primitives collide. The particles are used by the Cloner (Red Colllision Particles) to generate dynamic particles. These particles also force the Primitives to change shape when they collide with them. 8. InstanceThis is using the MoInstance object to create a series of 'echoes' of the keyframed shape. The Effectors just twist it a little to create interest. 9. UmbrellasThis uses a similar process as the L-System Grow files. My objects (Umbrellas) are linked to a Cloner and the animation is driven by an Effector ('Control'). If you look at a single umbrella you'll see that I've linked all the animation to be controlled by a single slider (Under the uControl tab). This slider is driven by the Effectors strength. The downloadable setup runs quite slowly but gives you a good idea of how it works. I've developed a way to vastly optimise the scene and run very complex setups by caching the object animation and using the Effector to control the playback.

10. Particle HairThis scene is relatively simple, it is just some Hair linked to a cube. Each hair strand is created of generated Instances. I've also added some secondary Hair linked to the first. I used the built in presets to emit Thinking Particles from the ends of the hair strands.

06/04/2014

I'm pleased to release Dysco into the wild! It's kind of experimental, it's set in the near future and is about synesthetic neon-dubstep shapes in a surveillance state.

You can watch a demo of a live version of Dysco here. You can also watch a Making-Of which has a rather long blog post underneath it if you're interested in the process, technical stuff or the ideas behind it. You can also download some clips from Dysco (the ones I used in the live demo) here and if you're into Cinema 4D you can download the Police State Fun Pack with lots of 3D models I used in the film.

This is a demo of the 'live' version of my short Dysco. It's a lot of fun to play with and I think with some work it could be really cool in a live context. It's sort of like playing an instrument and in the demo above I'm really just hitting stuff at random. I haven't really got to grips with it yet, it's just to show an indication of what's do-able.

Technically it's mainly relying on Ableton Live's ability to play clips in it's timeline and OSCulator to enable Touch OSC on the iPhone. Most of the work really is in making the clips. I've been using VDMX a little as well, trying to add visual effects which work in sync with the audio tweaks but I always tricky to get to grips with. It is more than possible, again, it just needs some time.

This post is about making Dysco and some of the process and thought that went into it.

Dysco is a self-initiated experimental 3D animation. I didn't really know what 'experimental' meant when people used it to describe their work, but now I think I have a better idea. To me it means that you're in somewhat uncharted territory, that you can't plan a map ahead but have to feel your way forward. This happened whilst making Dysco mainly because of the technical challenge of producing super-tightly synchronised animation to music. Planning out something so technically and conceptually complex befuddled me so I just resorted to just making little chunks at a time and then working it out later. This approach also allowed me to try out lots of different ideas and techniques and slot them in later. Unfortunately it also led to a somewhat fuzzy narrative thread but it did, in the end, allow the animation to be made.

Initially I aimed to make an abstract animation concerned only with synchronising shapes and sound. But the environments kept getting darker, influences from the real world crept in, especially the Snowdon leaks, the Arab Spring and maybe just the fact of living in London, the most surveilled city in the world. A lot of themes are also present from my earlier (and very stylistcally different) film Nothing To Fear. (Watch it here) I spent a long time detailing the world of Dysco. Everything has a reason for being, for example the lampposts have solar panels and anti-climb spikes to stop interference with the cameras. The graffiti references various hacker groups and movements such as Lulsec and Anonymous. 'Freedom' or 'Resistance' is plastered on the walls in Turkish, Cantonese and Korean. The drones and security apparatus are branded with parodies of major tech companies, FreeSec is based on the Google Chrome logo whilst Omni is a parody of Facebook.

Musically it proved tricky to work with composers as I needed such specific sounds and timings. There was a lot of R&D to do and the audio and visuals were so interdependent that in the end it turned out to be easier to compose the audio myself. I hadn't a lot of experience in creating music so I had to learn some new software but it was a lot of fun. It really made me realise how much dedication and craft is needed to make well produced music. When I'd finally cut the film together Dom from Toot! took my audio and made it sound professional. He used my noises as a guide for timing and replaced or processed them and did a lot of work on sound design and mixing as well as adding lots of formant shifting to give it a nice glitchy quality. Many of my early tests were automated animation driven by the audio. In the end the majority of the animation was done manually but there are still some automated sections. This was because I was doing such small sections of animation there was no real need automate it, it in fact was harder to create generative systems than it was to just key it by hand. I think audio driven animation is an interesting area and something I'll continue to explore, it'd be particularly good for making semi-automated music videos or even in live performances. The environments are based on photographs I took around London. I used Cinema 4D's Projection Man tool to project it onto geometry and then I began populating it with futuristic buildings, barbed wire and drones. Before building anything in 3D I generally researched in online and sketched it out by hand. Most of the animation and particle work was created in Cinema 4D. I used After Effects to composite and add in extra effects and Premier to arrange and edit everything. I found the integration between After Effects and Premier CC surprisingly good. I used Thinking Particles and Xpresso a lot for the early automation tests but soon I was mainly keyframing the animation and X-Particles became my new particle plug-in of choice. It's a powerful tool and a lot of fun, if you're into that type of thing :)

06/03/2014

I decided to make a post about my thoughts on modern mass surveillance as it's something I've thought about a lot whilst making my latest short 'Dysco'. I've done this in part because the message and narrative in Dysco is somewhat ambiguous and this may help clarify the thought processes behind it.

Due to the revelations of Edward Snowdon it is clear that we are building a vast transnational system of surveillance. A system that is already far more massive and sophisticated that I could have imagined even in my supposedly paranoid moments. And that growth will continue to accelerate.

I do not particularly hold with the assurance that 'if we have nothing to hide, we have nothing to fear.' (A subject I touched on in a previous short I made.) Do you trust the government to hold immense quantities of your personal information? And if you believe in governments benevolent intentions do you trust every one, of the many thousands, of employees and contractors of the government? Do you trust the commercial entities with which this information will be shared? Do you believe that this information couldn't be used for financial gain? That sometimes these institutions don't act in ways that are dangerous and damaging to the individual? Do you believe it is impossible for them to be seduced by the promise of easy profit?

18/09/2013

I recently updated the Hypervenom animation I created for the lovely folk at Intro. Nike wanted to include some of the customisable colour options as well as some new animation where the creatures attack the camera. I did all the 3D in Cinema 4D and comped in After Effects.

17/09/2013

I helped create this film with Intro. I worked on the middle section, the folding boxes and the meshwork-jellyfish-thing or 'doily from the future' as it came to be known. It was an installation piece for the 1948 store in Shoreditch.

11/06/2013

I created these two animations whilst freelancing at Intro. It was commissioned for the launch event in Brasil of the new Nike football boot, 'Hypervenom'. I very much enjoyed working with the team at Intro, it was great to be given the time and trust to create something cool. And also to work with powerful artwork and a brand like Nike.

I was supplied with three layered 'hero' images which I then animated in After Effects to create the final pieces. I also used Cinema 4D to model and animate 3D elements such as the scorpions tails, cats eyes, snake head, claws and so on.

It was great to be able to put into practice some of the techniques I've been learning in Cinema 4D, specifically character rigging, sculpting and bodypaint.

I also adapted the piece to work on a giant projection mapped space for the Hypervenom PR launch. You can see an edit of the launch event here.

The black version is another adaptation I created using many of the same elements. It was fun because I got to use some of the development tests and do some glitchy editing which I always enjoy.

These are some stills for a success pitch I produced for Nickelodeon for the Clarks shoe brand. The show they were sponsoring was based around street dance. Unfortunately I couldn't produce the piece as I was going on holiday for the bulk of the production so I handed it over to Nickelodeon to produce in house. Some of the ideas I explored encouraged me to make this piece which uses the motion capture of a dancer to drive splines and particles. I used a combination of photographs projected onto geometry (images 2, 4, 5, 6) and fully CG backgrounds (images 1, 3). Click on the images to pull them up full screen.

10/06/2013

I created this spot through Engine Creative for Black and Decker's new Duosand sander. The second video here is a dubstep remix... I did this because I thought I'd lost the final version with audio, so I made a remix, and well, really just to entertain myself.I always think that dubstep sounds like powertools or cars revving and clashing gears.

It was important to have the streams of sawdust acting relatively realistically and swirling around in a pleasing manner. I used Thinking Particles and Paricular to achieve the effects. Everything was rendered in Cinema 4D AR.

30/03/2013

This little edit is based on some development work I was doing for another Nickelodeon project. The project took a different turn but I thought I'd carry on developing some of the ideas. This is a fairly rough and ready little edit but I think it could develop into quite a nice piece of work, whatever that may be. I quite enjoyed getting stuck into the particles and tracer networks again!

29/12/2012

17/11/2012

This is, well, truthfully, I'm not sure quite what it is. It's a crazy detailed zombie saying stuff in a West-Country accent. It's an animation test for a Kickstarter idea (for an animated film) but I'm not quite sure I can justify spending several months on a highly speculative Post-Apocalyptic West-Country Zombie Folk Musical pitch. Saying that, the merch side has begun! My brother (site) has made some super cool T-shirts!

16/11/2012

I created this animation for SinfiniMusic about the life of composer Richard Wagner.

I did extensive research and tried to integrate as many elements from Wagners life into the animation. For example the stage where the piece is set is based on drawings and schematics of the real Bayreuth festival hall which Wagner built. You can see the exterior of the building in the final scene of the animation. All the buildings in the cot scene are based on real 19th Century architecture from Leipzig.

I drew the textures and illustrations by hand then took them into Cinema 4D to animate. I also modelled a lot of the elements and used my hand rendered images to texture them. I also used Sketch and Toon to create linework around the geometry to help integrate it.
I used a number of animation techniques from keyframing by hand to making use of rigid body simulations for the mechanical signs and cots and so on and of course cloth tags for the curtains. I also used a few particles for the 'Gesamtkunstwerk' section.

07/11/2012

Here's a little preset I've released for Cinema 4D. It's a kind of automated space battle widget based on Thinking Particles. What use it'll be I don't know but it's kind of fun!
You can download it here. And watch a little rendered test here.

05/11/2012

I designed and animated these infographics at Imagination for the launch of the new Land Rover. I also created the Mesh Wall for the same project. With this project I tried to get away from the 45° edge cut which is so common with infographics and techy looking work. Instead I opted for nice curves! Most of the curves were created in Cinema 4D as After Effects still has no good solution for this technique.

04/11/2012

I worked on this animation whilst at Spov. I did quite a lot of work developing the UI concept which was animated by Alasdair Willson. On this piece I did mostly 3D work, so the comms networks (particles/mograph), texturing, lighting and camera work. There's some other films we worked on which I should be able to show in March 2013.

I worked on this installation from the future for Moving Brands. I created a giant particle wall and generally helped with the UI design and animation for this multiscreen interactive experience.
See the Vimeo page for more details.

25/09/2012

This is an edit of some work I produced for a car launch event. I made a series of pre-rendered clips which were triggered live to a giant LED screen. I hope to get some footage of the live event soon.
The turnaround was very quick, two days in total. I used DMesh to turn selected client images into meshes which I manipulated in Cinema 4D. I've added music as a DJ was used at the event.
I also created a series of animated infographic films for the launch.

29/06/2012

These are a series of experiments created in Cinema 4D using Thinking Particles, L-Systems and the UberTracer plug-in. I've done a lot of particle/dynamic/mograph/xpresso work recently but can't show you anything because it's all still under wraps and will be for a while yet. So I took some of the ideas and techniques I've developed and created these animations. There's really no post production on these, they're just straight from the C4D renderer.